(M)Other Perspectives

This anthology examines maternity in contemporary performance at the intersection of a wide range of topics from nationhood to mental health, queer parenting, embodied dramaturgy, cultural practice, and immigration. Across the breadth of these themes, we interrogate the cultural implications and politics of how we script, perform, receive, and define mothers, challenging many of the normalizing and patriarchal tropes associated with the mother-as-character. This book includes critical essays examining twenty-first century dramatic literature, first-hand ethnographic accounts of motherhood in practice, interviews, feminist manifestos, and artist reflections. In its deliberately curated variety, this collection seeks to resist homogeneity and offer instead a range of approaches to key questions: what versions of motherhood get staged, and why? And what do dramatic representations tell us about the role of mothers in our own fraught contemporary moment? This collection will be of great interest to those in academia who are teaching, researching, or studying in the fields of Theatre and Performance Studies, American Studies, and Feminist and Gender Studies.

Aoise Stratford is a Playwright, Dramaturg, and Lecturer at Cornell University in the Department of Performing and Media Arts. Lynn Deboeck is an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Theatre and Lecturer in Gender Studies at the University of Utah.

Acknowledgements Contributors Bio INTRODUCTION: Mothers on Stage, in the House, and Behind the Scenes Lynn Deboeck and Aoise Stratford PART ONE: RESCRIPTING REPRODUCTION AND THE PREGNANT BODY Introduction / Mother's To Do List (1) We Are BRAVE: Performed Motherhood as Sexual and Reproductive Justice Activism Roberta Hunte (2) Queer Mothering: You Don't Have To Emerge From Nothing Michelle Hayford (3) Embodied Dramaturgy of Pregnancy and Motherhood in Grounded and Gloria Sarah Johnson (4) "You just know": Fertility-as-Currency in Expecting Isabel Lynn Deboeck (5) Representations of (Non) Choice: Birthmother Narratives from Marginalized Mothers in Contemporary Theatre Tamar Neumann PART TWO: MATERNAL/THEATRICAL LEGACIES Introduction / Mother's To Do List (6) Persistent Anxiety and Absent Mothers in Lucas Hnath's A Doll's House, Part 2 Alison Walls (7) "Unnatural" Mothers in Global Capitalism: Snow in Midsummer by Frances Ya-chu Cowig Daphne P. Lei (8) Abortion and the Monstrous Maternal in Suzan-Lori Parks's Red Letter Plays Aoise Stratford (9) Scripting and Staging Immigrant Motherhood in Heather Raffo's Noura Suzi Elnaggar (10) Mourning Mothers: Madness as Deviant Motherhood in Next to Normal Lindsey Barr PART THREE: MOTHERHOOD / NATIONHOOD Introduction / Mother's To Do List (11) Negotiating Mothers: Exploring the Maternal Landscape in Danai Gurira's Eclipsed L. Bailey McDaniel (12) "Mothers are the trickiest thing" Staging Undocumented Motherhood in Miss You Like Hell Diana Benea (13) Laboring for Their Country: Mother-Soldiers in Grounded and Welcome Home Jenny Sutter Jacqueline Viskup (14) Motherhood/Motherland: Performing Maternity and the Creation of a Citizen Melissa Flower (15) The Ties that Bind: Motherhood, Veiling, and Diasporic Subjectivity in Rohina Malik's Unveiled Megan Stahl PART FOUR: MOTHERHOOD AS THEATRICAL LABOR Introduction / Mother's To Do List (16) Radical Inclusivity: Rachel Hewitt and The Parent Artist Advocacy League Daniella Vinitski Mooney (17) Performing Performance Moms Teresa Simone (18) ASTR Field Conversation: Black Motherhood Mysia Anderson, Maisha Akbar, Shondrika Moss-Bouldin, Nicole Hodges Persley (19) No Further: Staging Motherwork and Maternal Relationships Kristyl Tift (20) A manifesto for care in the rehearsal room and the birthing room Shawna Mefferd Kelty (21) Jewish Mothers Christina Hurtado-Pearson and Jessie Mills CONCLUSION Aoise Stratford and Lynn Deboeck APPENDIX - Play List for Further Reading Index